Twelve alumni and friends, one corporation to be honored at ISU's annual Distinguished Awards Celebration April 11

AMES, Iowa -- Twelve individuals and one corporation will be presented with Iowa State University's most prestigious honors from the Iowa State University Alumni Association and ISU Foundation April 11 at the annual Distinguished Awards Celebration.

The Distinguished Alumni Award, the Honorary Alumni Award, the Order of the Knoll Cardinal and Gold Award, the Order of the Knoll Corporate and Foundation Award, the Order of the Knoll Faculty/Staff Award, and the Iowa State University True and Valiant Award will be presented at 2:15 p.m. on Friday, April 11, in the newly renovated Curtiss Hall auditorium on Iowa State's campus. The ceremony will be open to the public.

Receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award from the ISU Alumni Association will be astronaut Clayton C. Anderson (M.S. '83 aerospace engineering) of League City, Texas, who recently traveled to the International Space Station aboard Shuttle Atlantis; retired Principal Financial Group CEO David J. Drury (B.S. '66 mathematics) of Urbandale, Iowa; attorney Charles T. Manatt (B.S. '58 rural sociology) of Washington, D.C., who is the former U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic; Olive Mwihaki Mugenda (M.S. '83 family environment; Ph.D. '88) of Nairobi, Kenya, the first female vice chancellor of a large public university in Kenya; and former U.S. National Archivist Trudy Huskamp Peterson (B.S. '67 English and history) of Washington, D.C. The Distinguished Alumni Award honors individuals who are nationally and/or internationally recognized for preeminent contributions to one's profession or life's work.

The Honorary Alumni Award will be presented by the ISU Alumni Association to Donna Hoover of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Karen A. Kolschowsky of Oak Brook, Ill., who both have made significant personal and philanthropic contributions to the university, and to Carl F. Vondra of Ames, Iowa, a retired professor of geology who has made significant contributions to Iowa State, its alumni, and its geology field station in Shell, Wyo. The Honorary Alumni Award is the highest honor presented by the university through its Alumni Association to individuals who are not graduates of the institution.

Receiving the Order of the Knoll Cardinal and Gold Award from the ISU Foundation are retired ALLETE Inc., CEO Arend "Sandy" Sandbulte (B.S. '59 electrical engineering) of Duluth, Minn., and attorney Joan U. Axel (B.S. '64 history) of Muscatine, Iowa, who have both played significant roles in advancing the ISU Foundation and philanthropic support of the university. The Cardinal and Gold Award recognizes long-term service to the university and ISU Foundation.

The ISU Foundation's Order of the Knoll Corporate and Foundation Award, which recognizes outstanding generosity to the university by a corporation or foundation, will be presented to 3M Corporation of St. Paul, Minn., a consumer products manufacturer that has provided more than $2.7 million in lifetime support to the university through gifts, grants and employee contributions.

The Order of the Knoll Faculty/Staff Award will be presented by the ISU Foundation to Manjit Misra of Ames, Iowa, the director of the university's Seed Science Center. The award is presented to individuals who are employed by or retired from Iowa State who have brought distinction to the university through their work.

Owen J. Newlin (B.S. '51 agronomy; M.S. '53 crop production) is the 2008 recipient of the Iowa State University True and Valiant Award from the ISU Foundation. The award recognizes an individual's lifelong service, generosity and distinction that have helped transform Iowa State University.

The Distinguished Awards Celebration dates back to 1961, when the ISU Alumni Association first presented the Distinguished Alumni Award to George Pecaro (B.S. '30 forestry). Presented during Veishea, the university's student-run spring celebration, the Distinguished Awards are considered the university's highest honors for alumni and friends.